


Conceal

by ashyluka



Category: South Park
Genre: Cutesy, Fluff, Genderfluid Character, Insecurity, M/M, Makeup, Prom, Scars, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 07:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14076369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashyluka/pseuds/ashyluka
Summary: Butters hates his scar on his eye and doesn't want Kenny to find out the full extent of what damage he had done, so Wendy decides to help learn how to put on makeup.





	1. Nine Years Old

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alba_mouse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alba_mouse/gifts).



> This is written for my beloved friend Mouse, based off of a headcanon we both share about Butters...and our mutual love for Bunny.

“Y-You sure he won’t ever notice it, Wendy? Oh jeeze, I really don’t want him to ever notice it, he already feels awfully bad about what he did.” Butter whimpered, nervous as he squirmed in front of his friend in his seat.   
  
He felt self-conscious about his newly formed scar, the one on his left eye. If anyone was to look at him, they would notice it immediately and then question him about it. 

He didn’t want to talk about it though, how it came to be. 

It was embarrassing enough as it is, he got grounded for the injury and none of Stan’s gang was ever punished for playing with those weapons. Kenny was the only one who genuinely felt sorry for hurting him, and Butters didn’t want him to find out that he had scarred him. 

He had ran every time he run into him, hiding his face from him. So far, Kenny had never learned about the extent of the damage past the blinding. And Butters wanted to keep it that way.

Strangers were also always curious though, and the other kids were nasty about it towards him.   
  
He was blind now in that eye, and the scar was very visible. His parents were not fond of the attention drawn to their son, and so they got him contacts to put over the clouded pupil, as to make it appear ‘normal’ and match his unaffected eye.   
  
But the scar...the scar remained highly visible, and he had no way of covering it.   
  
“Shhh. Let me finish putting this on, Butters! I promise you he won’t notice. My mom has this to cover up acne and things like that, that’s why it’s called concealer! He won’t ever be able to know that this scar is there, and then you can look just like you did before!” She stated, biting her lip in concentration as she carefully dabbed the concealer—-perfect in match to his skin tone—-on the scarred bits of skin near his eye.

It didn’t help that Butters kept flinching at her touch, she didn’t take it personally, but she knew he had not been treated gently at all by others in his life just by how he moved at her touch. She often wondered what happened at home, but she knew it was best not to bring it up.

Even if she did, Butters would stutter and end the conversation before it ended. It broke her heart. Ever since that party at Heidi’s, where she and the girls unknowingly at first made fun of ‘Marjorine’ and then befriended her, only to find out that was actually Butters all along, they ended up treating him nicer at school later on. 

Well, at least Wendy and her best friend, Bebe, did. She couldn’t say the same about the other girls.

Satisifed with her work, she pulled the makeup brush away from his face and grinned at him. “Open your eyes, Butters! You can look in the mirror now!” 

Butters felt nervous, he wasn’t sure if he should open his eyes to look at what she had done. What if she made him look worse, what if she was lying about helping him, what if the scar could still be seen?

So many worried thoughts ran through his mind, subconsciously rubbing his knuckles together. Hesitantly, he fluttered his eyes open to the handheld mirror in front of him.

He...he looked like himself again!

It was nearly flawless, his scar was not visible. His skin appeared the same milky, pale white it had been before. In fact, nobody would notice unless they were to touch his face or get super up close, that he had on any makeup at all!

And in combination with the contact already in his blinded eye, he looked as he did before the make-believe fight had gone wrong.

His lower lip trembled, and before he could even begin to say anything or thank Wendy for her generosity and kindness, he burst into tears.

Wendy only rushed in to hug him, pull him close to her. She wasn’t even mad that he had already began to cry off the makeup, she only rubbed his back and held him as he cried it out.

“Shh, it’s okay Butters. I told you that you’d look great! I can show you again, so that you can do it by yourself! My mom even said you can have this concealer, and the primer and some foundation too! It’s going to be okay, no one will ever notice unless you want them to that the scar is there.” She whispered in his ear, soothing him. 

He only cried harder into the crook of her shoulder, though his cries were soft. 

This was the kindest someone had ever been to him--and she didn’t expect anything from him either, she did this because she wanted to.

Maybe things will become normal again after all.


	2. Fifteen Years Old Part One

It’s been many years since Wendy first shown Butters how to put on makeup, how to conceal the part of himself he didn’t want others to see. And since then, she and him had since became good friends.

She shown him how to put on more than just primer, concealer, and foundation as the years went on. In fact, she helped him discover that he actually really enjoyed makeup as a whole. 

Bright eyeshadows, and winged eyeliner brought out the color of his eyes, and over time, he had embraced his blindness in his left eye. The pale cloudy blue in contrast with his natural clear sky blue eye was actually pretty, he was not ashamed a bit to even admit that.

Of course, Linda and Stephen Stotch still did not take kindly to their son’s effeminate nature, nor to the fact he ‘embarrassed’ them more now that he was older than he did when he was a child by choosing NOT to wear the contact in his eye. 

They were not afraid to hurt him, punish him, ground him even if he came home from school wearing makeup. They knew he did outside of their home, but did not welcome it within their home. 

Because of this and because of the happiness it did bring him, despite his fears of punishment, Wendy ended up helping him apply it before school everyday, and take it off as well before they went home. She kept all his makeup safe in her home, in fact, he had his own makeup vanity in her house courtesy of Mr. Testaburger.

One thing did not change though for him, and that was the fact he still hid his scar that rest jaggedly from the edge of his left eyebrow, to just below his left eye. It didn’t matter how confident he had slowly grown from the influence of a good friend, he was still ashamed of his scar. It had faded significantly over time and got easier to hide, but it was always going to be there.

It also did NOT help at all that the person who blinded him, who gave him that scar in the first place, had grown very attractive the older they got.

It was nearing prom season, and Butters still didn’t have a date to prom. This year at South Park High, due to high demand from the newly elected student council representing each year level, they had opened prom to Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year students. It was exciting and everyone who planned on going had already been asked by their significant others or friends, and he was still on his own.

Wendy had chosen to go with Stan, Craig and Tweek (who by now ended up in a real romantic relationship) were going, Cartman had decided to skip (much to Butters’ relief), and Kyle was tagging along with his best friend and Wendy.

But Butters? He was on his own. So was Kenny.

The only issue here was that Kenny was straight, or at least that’s what Butters thought.

And Butters?

By now, most (if not ALL) of the student body knew he was gay. They knew he was gay, and because he was fluid with his gender expression, many students didn’t know exactly what to think of him. 

A few boys had asked him if he would be their date, but he declined when they tried to physically come onto him. And also when he refused to wear a dress for them.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like dresses (he did), but he didn’t want to risk a beating or worse if he was to go to Prom wearing one by his parents.

They were already at their peak limit when it came to him wearing makeup other than concealer, and also with the fact he went against their ‘eye rule’, and refused to wear the itchy contact lense to cover up something he wasn’t ashamed of anymore.

Sure, he couldn’t see well now, but he liked that his eye looked the way it did in the mirror. He was unique, special. One of a kind. For once, he felt like that was okay to be. It was okay to be who he was.

The bullying still existed towards him, but it lessened thanks to the fact his self-proclaimed best friend was the Freshman student body president, none other than Wendy Testaburger herself.

 

* * *

 

  
He fidgeted as he stood near her locker, shifting on his feet as he waited for her to finish putting her books away.

“Wendy!!! Please hurry up! What if he comes by, oh jeez, I haven’t even put on my eyeliner yet! I-I don’t want Kenny to see me without it!” He whined, glancing in a panic from her, to the full hallway, and back.

“Leo, calm down! Here, I have your makeup bag! He won’t see you without it! 

Ugh, why don’t you just ask him already to go with you? It’s not like he has accepted a date yet himself. Red told Bebe, who told Heidi, who told ME, that Kenny has turned down every single girl who has asked him to go to Prom with them, that he was waiting for someone else to be brave enough to ask him.” 

She stated, shutting her locker as she turned to face him. She gently shoved the makeup bag into one of his hands before grabbing the other and dragging him to the girls’ bathroom.

“He’s not gay Wendy! If he was gay, he would have said something by now, wouldn’t he?” Butters asked anxiously, slamming the makeup bag by the sink. He pulled out the eyeliner, a liquid type, and was quick to expertly drag it across the lid of his left eye.

He had already put on his concealer-foundation routine on his scar before he had left for school that morning, as it was the only makeup his parents did allow him to keep with him, and the scar was hidden with expertise after years of perfected practice. 

He pursed his lips in concentration as he continued to put on the eyeliner, before moving on to sweeping a pretty pastel blue over his eyelids. He knew he should have put that on first, but he was rushing this morning. Today was the last day he knew he could make a good impression with a certain someone, and he had heard that Kenny’s favorite color other than orange, was blue.

“Butters, why don’t you believe me? How many times have I told you that he’s not straight, that he’s--” Wendy groaned, being interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

“He’s pansexual, I know Wendy! But if he is, then why is he never seen with another guy, hmm? Or with someone like me?” Butters turned to face her, eyes anxious as he looked at her, only to move quickly to the floor, chewing on his lips from the anxiety he felt building up. 

He couldn’t imagine that Kenny was actually pan, what if he was just saying that to make himself look more attractive to girls?

If there was one thing Butters couldn’t do, it was be fully a girl. He had long accepted that he was fluid with gender, he didn’t see himself as fully being a boy or a girl. He yo-yoed between them, but he preferred he/him pronouns overall. It made him queasy to think that nobody would ever find him attractive unless he ‘chose’ between one of those. Of course, it didn’t work that way, but sometimes he felt like it did.

Gently grabbing him by the shoulders, Wendy flicked a piece of her long black hair out of her face as she forced him to look at her fully, “Leopold Butters Stotch. Look at me,” She said gently. 

“I wouldn’t ever lie to you. I think it might be like it is for you with him at home. Kenny, ahhh, his home life isn’t very good. We all know that, it never was. He takes care of his little sister a lot, his parents don’t really have it together. 

Sometimes he comes to school with bruises on his face, I know you’ve seen them. He’s strong, because he has to be, because he has to keep her safe from that. 

He doesn’t date, he never has. He doesn’t want anyone to go home with him, like in a relationship, and see that. He’s definitely done things with a few of our girlfriends’, but all of them have told me the same thing.

They have all said he often talked to them about how much he likes someone else, someone who sounds an awful lot like you with how he described them. But he also said he wouldn’t, or couldn’t do anything when it came to them, because he already knows they have it rough too.

He was waiting for them to make the move first.

Butters, you have a chance! Go after him! I’ll be nearby anyway, you know that. You’ve got nothing to lose.” 

He listened to her intently, gradually feeling the anxiety slip away. She was right, and hearing what he did from her about who Kenny was interested in (who hopefully was him)  made his stomach flutter in a good way. He had every reason by now to trust her, and she was definitely right. Slowly, he nodded his head, turning away from her to put the makeup brush he still had balled in his hand into his makeup bag. 

“I’m gonna do it, Wendy. I’m gonna do it. You’re right! I don’t have anything else to lose, I’m going to ask him. I’m going to ask him to go with me, and we’re gonna have a good time and oh golly, golly I’m going to be brave. I’m fifteen, we’re not nine anymore. He’s...well, he’s so hot, Wendy! He still doesn’t have any clue I got this scar from him and I don’t want him to find out, but I’ll go on a date with him and to prom if it’s the last thing I do!!” He shoved his makeup bag in her hands, not waiting for a reply as he pushed the girls’ bathroom door open and made his way out into the hallway.

 

* * *

  
  


Kenny stood by his locker, sighing as he ignored the advances of an older sophomore girl. Again with the girls asking him to go to prom with them.

He had no interest in ANY of them. Any of them except for a certain nervous, quiet, but very sassy and brave blonde with the prettiest eyes he had ever seen.

They weren’t the closest of friends, though he knew at a certain point in time, Butters did try to get close to him. Kenny didn’t want to burden him though with the harsh reality of his own home life, and after the trip to Hawaii he had taken with Butters, he distanced himself from him.

It didn’t help that he never had the chance to really apologize for the accident, for the blinding that he had done to Butters. 

They were kids, he shouldn’t have been playing with something that was not a toy anyway, but Butters dodged the subject if Kenny ever did try to talk to him about it. In fact, he would stutter and run so fast that Kenny was never able to catch up with him.

Eventually, he just dropped the subject altogether and avoided Butters as much as he could. 

He never stopped watching him though, never once stopped subtly asking about how he was doing when he had the chance to.

He noticed that the older they got, the closer Butters got to Wendy. It was a weird idea, the two of them becoming friends, but he couldn’t deny the spark that grew in Butters from being around her.

She was good for him, better than Stan’s gang ever was. Butters still at times hung around them, but most of his time was spent with Wendy.

And Kenny was more than relieved that someone else actually grew to care for him the same way he cared for him, it’s just he was unable to fully show it to Butters.

Kenny wasn’t really close to many of his old friends at all like he once was. He spent a lot of his days taking care of his little sister Karen, making sure she was safe and fed and clean. He worked two jobs on top of having school during the day. 

He was exhausted a lot of the time, and when he did have free time, he would occasionally go out on a Netflix & chill session with one of the many of his admirers.

He has no feelings for them, they helped him relieve his stress. He often felt terrible about it, but he knew that they all knew even if wasn’t spoken out loud that he was still very fond of the boy in a light blue jacket that they had all heard him mention at times, very rarely.

Eventually, the sophomore girl who tried so hard to get his attention and failed, huffed and walked away from him.  


“...God, finally.” He groaned once she was out of sight, resting his forehead against the opened front of his locker. He sighed as he pulled away to pull out the books he needed for class, the hallways were loud today, and the noises were irritating.

He was so tired, he had worked a night shift that night stocking in the Whole Foods market, and only got the bare minimum of sleep. His eyes were heavy, and he knew he looked especially tired today, but he had to keep going to school.

He had to graduate, he had to gain a scholarship in time so he could leave this small mountain town the minute he turned eighteen, and take Karen with him. He was already one of the oldest in their class at sixteen, and he had been working hard at school to get to a point that he might be able to graduate earlier than most of his classmates.

He was slow to shut his locker, slow to move, but barely had the chance to make it anywhere because as fast as he looked up from where his sleepy eyes focused on the floor, there was suddenly a very brave, very nervous, very determined Butters in front of him.

Butters took him by surprise, and he stammered immediately, “H-Hey, what’s up? Are you okay? What’s up? I, uh, I can’t miss class, I’m gonna be late---” Kenny was taken off guard as Butters wrapped his hands around the collar of Kenny’s jacket, pulled him forward, and smacked a hesitant, but soft kiss to his lips.

Kenny was barely awake before, but he was now. He was startled, off-put almost in fact. Did that really just happen? 

Instead of pushing him away though, he instead placed his hands upon Butters’ face, and kissed him back. This couldn’t possibly be real, he passed out from exhaustion in the hallway. That’s what he kept trying to convince himself as he moved his lips with the ones on his, guiding him, not being pushy, but showing him he was returning whatever the hell this was.

But it ended when Butters suddenly pushed a hand against his chest to break the kiss off, and loudly shouted, “Will you go to prom with me Kenny?!” 

It was so sudden, so unexpected, but it also pleased Kenny to see that his long-time acquaintance and secret crush had the guts to ask him something like this. 

He only grinned, shrugging as he held the determined and anxious gaze of the other, and casually said, “Sure. Why not.”

He really didn’t know what exactly to say other than that, and instead cupped his hands around Butters’ face again to press a kiss to his forehead, and then moved to kiss him on the mouth once more. His finger subconsciously dragged underneath the clouded eye, not noticing that his finger suddenly had what appeared to be makeup smeared on it, and that makeup was in fact smeared on Butters’ face.

He was just happy to be kissing him. If this was a dream, well, it was one hell of a better time than the last one.


End file.
